Scaffolding Student Background Information:
  • Specific guidelines for what students may want their research to include. e.g.: time period inventor lived in, life background, education, what society was like, opportunities, circumstances of inventors and their inventions, needs.
  • Platform for collecting research.
  • Research guidelines/requirements: websites, books, articles, etc.
  • Collaborative/Cooperative Group roles

Primary Driving/Throughline Concept: Why did humans use the resources in their environment to help them evolve? Why are some countries technologically advanced and some countries are not?
What are the most impactful-improtant-critical inventions that helped humans to evolve into what and where we are today?

Starting with the end in mind - what skills and strategies do we want the students to acquire; understand; learn; practice at the end of this "Project/Mini-Inquiry"?
  • Use a common,book, article, and website to begin practicing the non-fiction reading strategies of: reading with a question in mind, interrogating texts, code main idea and supporting details with codes or margin notes. Read for information.
  • Take the information and begin to summarize and paraphrase it into their own conceptual framework.
  • Provide students with an actual template/framework for breaking down their topic of research into specific information to find and include.
  • What was the invention? Create a "time-line" of how the invention has changed and evolved from when it was first invented to today.
  • What do you foresee it's future role in the future?
  • Does this have a positive impact on the footprint of the earth or not? Why? Why not?
  • When was it invented?
  • Who invented it? Who was this person? Born? Lived? Schooling? Interests?
  • What was the inventors motivation for inventing it?
  • What was the historical time period of the invention?
  • What impact did the invention have on society "back then" and what impact does it have on society now?

Example: Refrigeration} ice} unit or box with ice blocks} early refrigeration system} manufacturing of early refrigeration units} How were these powered? Was electricity required? What was required before electricity was invented? What came first - electricity or the refrigeration unit?

The benefits of have all of the students participate in researching the same topic is that they have a model, guide, template for how to move on to the next phase of each group selecting their own "significant" invention to research, build and present to the group.